The board of the Gerry Dilger Equine Scholarship Foundation is delighted to announce the two latest recipients of one of its initiatives, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Experience Scholarship. This award is open to graduates of Irish equine programs and grants one year placements at leading Kentucky farms to provide the next generation of young people with an opportunity to further learn and develop their horse skills evoking the spirit of Gerry Dilger. For 2025 the board selected Ciaran Phelan to go to Springhouse Farm, Lexington and Lola Queck to Hunter Valley Farm, Versailles.
Ciaran grew up on his family farm, Glashare House in County Kilkenny and has worked at Coolmore Stud and Lodge Park Stud. Graduating from the Irish National Stud, he was awarded the Jonathan Fitzpatrick Business Internship in the nominations office at the stud where he benefited greatly from exposure to the business side of a commercial stallion farm. Ciaran has already amassed quite a level of experience for a young man from helping to run his family stud farm to foaling mares and handling stallions at Coolmore to prepping yearlings at Lodge Park Stud and venturing into some pinhooking projects.
Ciaran is delighted to expand his horizons by working at Springhouse Farm as he seeks to enrich his knowledge and skills with the aim of building, in time, his own family farm business. He states that “Ultimately my goal is to breed horses capable of competing at the highest echelons of racing”.
Lola is also a graduate of the famed Irish National Stud program and has gained great experience having left her native Germany and travelled to Australia working for racehorse trainer Brett Cavanaugh and the renowned Vinery Stud. Her time there helped develop all round skills with one of the leading country trainers and a leading breeding nursery. Lola has also spent valuable time prepping yearlings with Ecurie de Monceaux, a perennial leading consignor at Argana Sales.
She has worked on the advertising and social media side of the business and recognizes their importance to sustain the bloodstock and breeding industry. Lola would like to start some pinhooking in the future and has enjoyed yearling prep, an area which she would like to further develop into a career. She notes about her placement at Hunter Valley and the significance of the horse “It is essential to truly love what you are doing and always treat them with good intentions. There is always more to learn and it is very important to experience as many different cultures and ways of doing things especially in this industry”…